17 October 2007 | 0 replies
practice DE: Fingerprints in passports
DE: Fingerprints in passports
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14 October 2007
Last Edited Date
14 October 2007
Country
Germany
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ePractice Editorial Team (EUROPEAN DYNAMICS SA) | Belgium
Second-generation ePassports containing two fingerprints will be issued in Germany from 1 November. New procedures are being introduced in population registration offices in town halls where the fingerprinting will be carried out. There will also be additional quality checks on passport production, and a switch to a new type of passport reader.
“All parts of the process have been exhaustively tested in field trials,†says the Federal Interior Ministry’s IT Director Martin Schallbruch. Fingerprinting took two and a half minutes on average, and “met with high acceptanceâ€. Volunteers taking part in the tests got a small reduction on the price of their passports.
However, some experts believe the passports might be open to manipulation. But the firm that will produce them points out that, at the same time as the fingerprints, Extended Access Control (EAC) will be introduced, in line with EU requirements. EAC means that a terminal has to authenticate itself with an electronic certificate before it can access the data on a passport. There will also be an additional anti-cloning device, Active Authentication (AA).
Privacy campaigners are unlikely to be satisfied with technical safeguards. Warning of “everyday permanent surveillanceâ€, Germany’s Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has called for a fingerprinting boycott. While the hackers grouped in the CCC are technically expert, their wider influence remains to be seen. They are, however, prominent in a broadening coalition against electronic surveillance.
Further information:
“All parts of the process have been exhaustively tested in field trials,†says the Federal Interior Ministry’s IT Director Martin Schallbruch. Fingerprinting took two and a half minutes on average, and “met with high acceptanceâ€. Volunteers taking part in the tests got a small reduction on the price of their passports.
However, some experts believe the passports might be open to manipulation. But the firm that will produce them points out that, at the same time as the fingerprints, Extended Access Control (EAC) will be introduced, in line with EU requirements. EAC means that a terminal has to authenticate itself with an electronic certificate before it can access the data on a passport. There will also be an additional anti-cloning device, Active Authentication (AA).
Privacy campaigners are unlikely to be satisfied with technical safeguards. Warning of “everyday permanent surveillanceâ€, Germany’s Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has called for a fingerprinting boycott. While the hackers grouped in the CCC are technically expert, their wider influence remains to be seen. They are, however, prominent in a broadening coalition against electronic surveillance.
Further information:
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Unique Biometric Identification
Kudos to Govt. of Germany for introducing Fingerprints in passports. Unique Biometric Identification is the need of the day. It would eliminate impersonation and any one can be identified by just a finger print or palm vein. There should be a single database for a country which can be shared within the EU. It should carry complete particulars of the individual from birth to death. Multi Purpose Biometric Smart Card Cum bank Debit Card should be the mode of access / transaction for transparency and accountability, This can eliminate graft.